In this week's Connecticut in Color, we take you to a small Puerto Rican restaurant in New Britain.
It's not a sit-down place, but a spot where you can get authentic Latin food, fast.
"Every day, we're going to have white rice. We have yellow rice as well. We got the pork right here. The roasted pork," the owner Angel Plaza said.
Plaza and his wife started the business together.
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"We try here to have our food ready for the customers, so they can come here, get their food, and do what they got to do," Plaza said.
Plaza was working in construction before, but he says something told him to get back to his roots.
"I was raised in this. I had two restaurants in Puerto Rico before, and I just wanted to do something different," he said.
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For eight years, he sold his Puerto Rican food at carnivals and fairs around Connecticut. But according to him, it was time to open up his own place.
"I quit my full-time job and came here. Straight to here," Plaza said.
Plaza says it took two years to transform this former mini-mart into Boriexpress. 'Bori' is a name for people from Puerto Rico and 'express' is to let customers know everything is on the go.
Soon, the restaurant will have a drive-thru option with a menu and speaker to place your order. It isn't ready yet, but customers can expect by the summer or early fall.
Until then, you'll have to go inside to get your food.
"Some new energy in the community is always wonderful, and they have such beautiful service. Really friendly," Cuthbert of New Britain said.
The restaurant has only been open for six weeks and it's busy. At times, it's packed with customers. Some we spoke to say they're originally from Puerto Rico.
"It brings back grandma's home-cooked meals," Renaldo Ortiz of New Britain said.
"We needed something like this. The taste is very, very delicious," Felipe Belliccia of New Britain said.
"This is a small place, and it seems like more comfort to me -- to just have that familiar, family tradition type of feeling," said Barbara Arroyo of New Britain.
And these customers say they're grateful to have a little piece of home just down the road.
Boriexpress is opened Monday - Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The restaurant is located at 1360 East St., New Britain, CT 06053.
